Plastic encapsulated semiconductor components are susceptible to moisture ingress due to the permeable nature of plastic molding compounds. Components containing moisture levels exceeding some critical amount run the risk of cracking or "popcorning" during the rapid heating of the solder reflow operation for board mounting. Components which are subject to cracking are normally baked in an oven for a predetermined length of time to drive moisture out of the components before they are shipped to the customer. These components are packaged in "dry-packs" after baking to ensure that they are protected from moisture and will arrive dry at the customer site.
FIG. 1 is a flow chart of the current shipping process 10 which involves placing baked, finished semiconductor components (provided in a step 12) inside a first small cardboard box (a step 14). This first cardboard box is then placed inside a flexible dry-pack bag with desiccant (a step 16). The dry-pack bag is evacuated and sealed to protect the components (a step 17). Each dry-pack bag containing semiconductor components is then placed inside a second larger cardboard box (a step 18). Then, these second larger cardboard boxes are stacked inside a third large shipping cardboard box which is shipped to the customer (a step 20). Once the customer receives the shipment, the customer must unpack the components from all the cardboard boxes and the dry-pack bags. All the cardboard boxes and the used dry-pack bags must be discarded because they are not reusable or recycleable. This translates into a large volume of trash that is continually being generated which is not ecologically efficient or environmentally friendly.
Thus a need exists for improving the method in which semiconductor components are shipped which eliminates inefficiencies while still protecting moisture sensitive components from reabsorbing ambient moisture after being baked.